Renegade
by Ever-Changing Anthem
Summary: In the summer between Harry's third and fourth years, he receives letters from Sirius via strange tropical birds. Where has Sirius gone into hiding in the few months he's forced to spend away from the only friends he has left? You're about to find out.
1. Night Prowler

Renegade

_A/N: Hello everybody, my name is Liveley, and I'm a HP-aholic. Whew…glad I got that off my chest! For those of you who read my Padfoot Prohibited fanfic, I'm just warning you, this one isn't anything like it, and since I'm saying it right here, you don't have to review just to tell me it sucks in comparison. I'm seriously considering whether or not to stain my Liveley pen name by posting this, but what the hell? I wanted to see how it would do. I wrote it when I was about 16 and never finished it. So, if you like the first few chapters that I have, I'll continue it. Please let me know what you think. Also, if you recognize the character names Raven and Jordan, they do **not** have the same backgrounds as in Padfoot Prohibited, they are just signature names that I use throughout most of the fics I've written. Hope that doesn't confuse anyone._

Disclaimer: Sad to say, I don't own Sirius Black. If I did, I would not have killed off the closest thing Harry had to a father because poor Harry's been through enough bullshit already in his life! In other words, I am not J.K Rowling, and I don't pretend to be… Okay, obviously I do pretend to be since I write Harry Potter fanfiction, but I really don't own Harry Potter. Oh, and the title of this chapter, "Night Prowler" is a song by AC/DC.

Chapter 1 – Night Prowler

"Padfoot," Remus said quietly as he shook his best friend's shoulder.

Sirius rolled over on his back and groaned. Remus shook him again, more forcefully. "Sirius, c'mon, it's after three."

Sirius answered him, groggily, "In the morning? Are you nuts? Go back to sleep!" He threw a pillow in the direction he thought Remus was, but it completely missed him.

"Sirius Lee Black, get up! You said you wanted to get going by three!"

Sitting up in bed, he rubbed his eyes. "Bloody hell, I forgot!" He jumped out of bed and pulled a t-shirt over his head. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

"Um...I was trying," said Remus, "but you weren't making it very easy. "Okay, I got you some shampoo and toothpaste yesterday, you can take whatever food Buckbeak can carry, and I'll send more stuff when you need it. Here's some muggle money I had exchanged," he handed Sirius and envelope, "and send me an owl when you need more. What else do you need?"

Sirius chuckled lightly, "Got a wand in your back pocket?" He thought how the ministry had destroyed his own wand when they threw him into Azkaban.

Remus smiled, reached in his back pocket, and pulled out a dark mahogany wand. "Like...this one?"

Sirius' eyes widened in shock. "I was joking! How'd you get it?"

"Dumbledore. Just in case dementors show up on your doorstep." Remus handed Sirius the wand.

Sirius took it from Remus and caressed it with his fingers. _'I never thought I'd get to hold a wand of my own again!'_ he thought excitedly. He placed it securely inside his robes. "Thanks, Moony."

"You should eat some breakfast before you go."

"It's the middle of the night; I'm not hungry," protested Sirius.

"It's a long ride, and you're not stopping at Taco Bell!" argued Remus, remembering how much Sirius liked the muggle fast food place.

Grinning briefly at how well Remus knew him, Sirius followed him into the kitchen and sighed as his childhood best friend set a bowl of cereal in front of him. "Now I know why they call 'em _serial_ killers."

Remus rolled his eyes. "That's spelled s-e-r-i-a-l, not c-e-r-e-a-l."

"Well, it's named after that, because people hate cereal so much they want to just go on a rampage and kill whoever made it!" argued Sirius.

Trying not to laugh, Remus poured milk onto the cereal. He never understood why Sirius hated cereal so much. "Just shut your trap before I put my foot in it," he teased.

"It's not a full moon, I can take you," Sirius responded as he reluctantly ate the cereal. "Honestly, why do people eat this? Why have..." he picked up the box and read the label, "_Grape Nuts_, when you could have a couple burritos?"

"A burrito? For breakfast?"

"Breakfast burritos, Moony. I love burritos."

"Well, I'll send you some if you're a good boy," replied Remus, sarcastically, giving Sirius a pat on the head.

"I'll hold ya to it," said Sirius as he finished the cereal and fixed his hair.

They took his bags out the back door of Remus' house where a disillusioned Buckbeak was waiting.

Remus helped him secure the bags on Buckbeak and then turned to the only best friend he had left. "Sirius, be careful. I don't want you chasing after some girl the second you get there, even if she's the most beautiful girl in the entire world, got it?"

Sirius gave him an innocent look and Remus rolled his eyes. "I know you, Padfoot. That's the first thing you'd do and don't try to tell me different. But you have to stay out of sight for the first few days. I know the last thing you want to do is stay cooped up in some house when you're right on the beach, but do it for Harry. You finally get the chance to be there for him, don't risk throwing it away."

Sirius smiled. "Are you done with your lecture, _Professor_ Lupin?"

Remus returned the smile. "Yes." He rapped Sirius hard over the head with his own wand to disillusion him.

"That hurt," said Sirius, lifting a now almost transparent hand up to rub the top of his transparent head and again adjusting his hair, although it was pouring rain. "Alright, bye then."

The two of them hugged like brothers. "I owe you, Moony," said Sirius, before pulling away.

"I won't forget it. Send me an owl when you get there, alright?"

"Will do," said Sirius as he bowed to Buckbeak and, after the hippogriff returned the bow, climbed on his back.

Remus Lupin watched as Sirius flew away on Buckbeak into the clouds.

* * *

"Did you notice we have new neighbors?" asked Jordan, sitting at the kitchen table, sipping her drink and gesturing to the house next door.

"Neighbor. There's only one. He thinks no one noticed him move in at 6 am last weekend," replied Raven, throwing her long black hair over her shoulder and turning her gaze toward the house next to hers.

"He hasn't shown his face for a week?" Jordan asked, disbelievingly. "You haven't seen him at all?"

"I saw him the night he got here, but other than that, no. I see his dog often enough though."

"His dog?"

"He comes out at night, watches me swim. It gave me a scare the first night. I thought Rio was out," she said, gesturing to her own black, gordon setter, Rio, who was curled up on the rug near the fireplace.

"Well," Jordan looked at her watch, "I'll let you do your thing; it's almost nine. I don't want to be around if you forget to take your medicine!"

"Don't worry, I'd give you a head start." Raven smirked, said goodbye to Jordan, and watched as the confident brunette returned to her own house.

Rio suddenly raised himself off the rug and growled at Raven, teeth bared. "Relax," she said to him as she quickly crossed to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Rio continues to growl and paw at the ground. Raven took long swig from a bottle and placed it back on the shelf, closing the door. Rio then visibly relaxed; he bounded up to her, sniffed her hand and then licked it, as though ashamed of his previous behavior. "You're forgiven."

She felt a rush of energy and went into her bedroom to change into her bathing suit.

Sirius was waiting for her to come down to the beach to swim. _'Where is she?'_ he thought. _'It's past nine o'clock.'_ He started thinking about what Remus had told him. _'Stay out of sight. Don't go chasing after some girl, I don't care if she's the most beautiful girl in the entire world.'_ There she was. _'Damn close,'_ he thought, looking at her. He watched as Raven walked slowly down through the sand, carrying her towel and one of those Muggle boxes that produced music. He regretted having to change into his animagus form as she neared him.

Raven spread out her towel and set theradio on top of it. She turned on the music and waded into the water. Even as a dog, Sirius could barely keep his eyes on her in the water. He decided tonight was the night he would talk to her. He'd waited long enough. The people here, from what he could tell, were sort of out of touch with the real world anyway. Besides, she was a Muggle, and Muggles wouldn't know as much about his world.

Remus' voice came back to him, but he pushed it out of his mind. _'I've been in Azkaban for twelve years,'_ he told the voice. _'Let me have a little female contact, and then I'll be good.'_ The big black dog trotted into the water quietly and dove under. Emerging as a man, Sirius started to make his way over to Raven. He lifted his shirt quietly over his head and left it behind him.

She was singing along with the music while doing some sort of movements he didn't recognize.

Raven suddenly froze as she saw the man standing before her.

Sirius smiled. "Hi. Nice night for a swim?"

"I thought so," she replied, looking him over. "So this is my new neighbor? And I half expected you to be terribly deformed or something even worse."

Sirius laughed. "Because I haven't come over to say hello?"

"No, you just have your dog watch my every move."

"Oh yeah, sorry about that. Padfoot's terribly nosy. I'm...Remus." _'Shit, did that sound fake?'_ he thought.

_'Does it normally take someone that long to remember their name?'_ she thought to herself. She pushed it to the back of her mind. _'What does it matter? He's cute.'_ She held out her hand to shake his. "Raven. Nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise. I wasn't trying to ignore you or anything. I was just...getting myself settled in, ya know?"

"Actually, I don't think I remember. I've lived here for a pretty long time."

"Really? I thought this was mainly a tourist attraction.'

"Or a hideout," added Raven. "Lots of people come to just get away from things."

_'Which would be why I'm here,'_ thought Sirius as she continued.

"Jordan and I are the only ones I know of that live here permanently. Jordan's the house on the other side of mine."

Sirius nodded his head. "Is he a night owl, too?"

"Jordan's a she. No, she thinks I'm crazy for coming out here every night to practice my moves."

"And what moves would those be?"

"San Chin Ryu. It's kinda like karate. I learned it when I was little and now it's really relaxing," she explained.

"Do you have todo it in the water?"

"Oh, no, it's just that you get better resistance in the water so you get used to it, and it makes you move a lot faster when you don't have the water against you in a real situation."

"And just when would you be in a real situation like that around here?"

"I'm not saying that. It's just something I like to do," answered Raven, smoothly. "So why did you come here?"

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "Just felt like a vacation."

Raven rose her eyebrows at him. "Right...Well, I'm tired." She started to wade in and then turned back to him. "Will I see you around, or is this your one hour outside for the month of June?"

Sirius chuckled. "Sadly, it is. But my hour's not up yet," he hinted.

"Why do I feel like you just invited yourself into my house?" she asked as she picked up her radio and threw her towel around her.

Sirius gave her a sexy smile. "Because I just did."

Raven jerked her head towards her house and Sirius followed her up the beach. She opened the screen door for him, but then threw her arm across his chest to hold him back. "Let me get you a towel first."

He stood there shivering while she disappeared down the hall and came back with a towel. He draped it around himself and stepped in the house, surveying it with his eyes.

"This is nice," he said as his eyes ran across a large coffee table and a couch. They drifted further, down a hallway, probably leading to her bedroom and bathroom on the left. On the right side was the kitchen and dining room, with a door leading out of the kitchen and into her backyard.

"Thanks." She shivered as she saw him in proper lighting for the first time. _'He's quite good looking. The only thing he's missing is maybe a few pounds.'_ She fought the blush that was threatening to give her away as her eyes met his. He was watching her, too.

He smiled slightly and turned to look at some Mugglenovels that were neatly arranged on a shelf next to the couch.

"Well...I'm hungry. How about you go put on some dry clothes, and I'll make some food?"

Although Remus was telling him not to, Sirius nodded his head and smiled.

"Anything in particular you're hungry for?"

Sirius slowly smiled at her. "You have no idea how long I've been craving burritos."

_A/N: Well, that's only the first chapter. I'm really not the best critic for my own writing, so I figure I'll just post the first chapter, and if people hate it, I'll take it down. So, if you do like it, be sure to let me know in your review. Luv, Liveley._


	2. Back In Black

Renegade

Disclaimer: Sad to say, I don't own Sirius Black. If I did, I would NOT have killed off the closest thing Harry had to a father because poor Harry's been through enough bullshit already in his life! There is also a song in this chapter, "Back In Black" by AC/DC. (Sorry for all the AC/DC stuff; I actually didn't realize I was doing it, but I think if Sirius were a Muggle, he'd like them, lol.)

_A/N: I'm glad you guys like it so far. I'd like to remind you again that Raven and Jordan are NOT the same characters as in Padfoot Prohibited. They are just the character names I use because I like them and I don't get so confused when switching back and forth between fics. Thanks again and please review. _

* * *

Chapter 2 – Back In Black

"Raven Leia Ashe! You had dinner with this man?" questioned Jordan, sitting at the edge of her seat.

"Well, I made burritos and he ate them, if that's what you mean," replied Raven nonchalantly.

"He could be a mass murderer for all you know!"

"Jordi, if you saw him, you wouldn't be saying that."

"Just because he's good looking doesn't mean he's not dangerous! Why else is he here, then, and why does he keep cooped up in that house all day long?" asked Jordan, narrowing her eyes on her best friend.

"His eyes are just so...magnetic. He was...nice. That's all I'm saying, Jordiana. I'm not saying I want to marry the man, for crying out loud! I'm not even saying I want to…sleep with  
him!"

Jordan burst into a fit of giggles. "Well, who said anything about that?

Raven smiled widely. "I know that's what you were thinking.

"Maybe it's what _you_ were thinking."

Raven pursed her lips. "I was not." She got up from the couch in the middle of Jordan's living room. "I have to go."

"Expecting company?" Jordan winked.

Raven turned around, grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it in Jordan's face. "Come by and meet him if you want."

"I think I'll leave you two alone."

"Uh-oh, back for more cereal?" Remus asked with an amused look from the kitchen table.

Sirius smiled forcefully and rolled his eyes, sitting next to him. "Sorry I made you worry like that. You told me to send an owl as soon as I got there, but you forgot one thing: I didn't have one. I let Harry's friend, Ron, have it. And I couldn't very well have gone out and gotten another one."

"Yes, I realized that after you left. That's why I sent you one so you could send a message back. I wouldn't Apparate here, though, unless you really need to, Sirius. The wrong person could be here; you don't want to take that chance."

"What other best friends have you got left?" asked Sirius bitterly. He instantly regretted it, and Remus noticed his eyes soften.

"Good point," Remus smiled weakly.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

Remus reached over and put a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "It's the truth." They stared at each other for just a few moments, silently bonding. "So...you need anything while you're here?"

"Not yet, I don't think."

Remus nodded and took a spoonful of his cereal. "So, are you staying out of sight?"

Sirius shrugged. "Pretty much."

"Padfoot," Remus scolded, "what does that mean?"

"Pretty much means pretty much! I went out as a dog a few times, and," he lowered his voice, "I talked to a girl, but--"

"WHAT?" interrupted Remus. "God dammit, Sirius! I told you! Do you honestly want to get caught? I don't think Harry would be able to—"

"I just talked to her; that's it! I couldn't help it, Moony! I can't stay locked up in a house all by myself! I just want to get out and do at least some of the things I've been missing for the past thirteen years!"

"And you will!...but not yet. You have to lay low. Once we catch the rat, we'll be able to prove that you're innocent."

"Moony, wake up! We're never going to catch him again! We're lucky we caught him the first time! Chances are, the stinking rodent's already out of the country! How do you find a rat free to roam wherever he wants? Do you have a Marauder's Map for the entire world?" Remus just sat in silence, listening to Sirius pour out all his frustration. "Cause I sure as hell don't!" Sirius got up from the table and started to pace the kitchen.

"No, I don't. And if you're trying to say that it was all my fault he escaped, I already agree with you, so don't waste your breath."

Sirius stopped pacing and stared at Remus. "I didn't say that, Remus. You couldn't help what happened. If I hadn't been so reckless, maybe I could have planned everything a little bit better."

Thankful that Sirius's yelling had abated, Remus nodded.

"Some things never change, you know. What did McGonagall call you while we were in school? Reckless, rebellious, and royally _un_righteous?"

Sirius smirked. "Yeah, I made her so mad sometimes she'd start to alliterate."

Sirius went to the window and saw Raven's outline walk past her kitchen window. _'Wonder if I can get her to make me breakfast,'_ he thought.

Raven sang along to the radio while she washed the dishes. Sirius tried to keep from laughing. He'd always loved "Back In Black" not only because it had his name in it, but because he'd been somewhat of a badass in his schooldays. He thought briefly of James, his partner in crime. _'No, bad idea, Sirius,'_ he told himself. He'd discovered new meaning in the song after he escaped from Azkaban and heard it again. As the next verse came around Sirius opened the door and started singing loudly. Raven turned around and almost dropped the plate she was holding. She laughed and sang along with him.

When the song ended, Raven and Sirius fell on the couch, laughing. "Isn't it a little early for AC/DC?" asked Sirius.

"I can't believe you! You were spying on me? How long were you there?"

"Long enough," he said, giving her a sexy smile.

Raven covered her face with her hands. "Merlin, I can't believe you saw that!"

"Actually, I think that's my favorite thing about you so far."

Raven laughed.

"AC/DC, one of my favorites."

"Me too. My cousin used to make me listen to them when I was little, and I hated it. But then I grew up and bought all their stuff."

"Your cousin?"

"Yeah, my one and only. Josh."

"You have _one_ cousin?" screeched Sirius. "I wish I only had one cousin! My family was huge!"

"You say that like it's a bad thing. I don't have any family left!"

Sirius' face fell. "What happened to them?"

"Oh," Raven shifted uncomfortably, "they...my parents died. I'm an only child." She shrugged.

"I'm sorry."

Raven smiled weakly. "It's okay. It was a long time ago. I was nineteen."

Sirius rose his eyebrows, looking her up and down. "…And you're what, now? Nineteen and a half?"

Raven opened her mouth and then closed it. She swallowed and continued. "I'm twenty-five."

"Twenty-five?" Sirius looked at her. He didn't even think she looked twenty. "Okay..."

"Why? How old are you?" asked Raven, trying to get him to stop looking at her.

Sirius stopped. "I don't know." He looked at the ceiling, doing the math. "Thirty-three."

Raven now rose her eyebrows at him. "You forgot how old you are?"

"Well, I haven't really thought about it in a long time," he justified.

"Alrighty then."

He laughed. "So, what about Josh?"

"What about Josh? He's my cousin. He lives in Scotland--"

"Really? I went to school in Scotland."

"—with his wife." Raven rolled her eyes.

"I take it you don't like his wife?"

"No. I hate her."

Sirius nodded his head. "That sounds more like how I felt about my family."

"How come?"

"I don't know...we just...had different beliefs, I guess."

"What different beliefs?"

Sirius got up quickly from the couch and started to pace the room uncomfortably. '_Too many questions.'_ "Oh, I don't know. We just never agreed on anything."

"Want some coffee? You're a little jumpy there."

Sirius chuckled. "Sure, thanks."

Raven got up to get him a cup. She handed it to him and he took a sip.

As he drank it his eyes closed. After swallowing, they opened again and Sirius stared at her. "This is the best coffee I've ever tasted!"

"Oh, it's mixed with one part hot cocoa. I forgot to tell you."

"It's...amazing! My friend, Remus, he tries to make coffee, and I swear, it tastes _so_ bad!"

Raven furrowed her brows. "You have a best friend with the same name as you?"

"Huh?" As Sirius rose the cup to his lips again, he froze. _'Oh shit. I told her _my_ name was Remus!'_

"Or were you referring to yourself in the third person?" She narrowed her eyes on him.

"I...uh..." Sirius stuttered. "Yeah, no that's how we became best friends because we had the same name."

"Mmhmm" she said, disbelievingly. Raven took his cup, quietly walked to the kitchen, and opened the back door. "Either tell me your real name or leave, _Remus_. I don't like being played with."

Sirius stared at her in amazement. He must be losing his touch. Crossing to the kitchen, he took his cup from her hands and filled it to the brim. Then he went back to the door, took Raven's hand and led her back to the couch. The door slammed as Raven was taken away from it. Sirius sat and pulled her down next to him. He took a long drink and then set the cup on the coffee table. He took her hand in his again and looked deep into her eyes.

"You can call me Sirius, if you like."

"I'd like to call you by your _real_ name." Raven looked back into his deep, magnetic, gray ones.

"That _is_ my real name."

"That name's kind of ironic, isn't it? I mean, you've been lying to me since I met you yesterday, right?"

"S-I-R-I-U-S," he spelled it, "and I haven't been lying to you. I just can't talk about a lot of things."

"Why not?"

"You said it yourself. People use this place as a hideout. I just don't want anyone to find me, that's all."

Raven spoke through gritted teeth. "_Why_ not?"

"Because they think I did something that I didn't do!" he said forcefully. Then he spoke softly, more to himself. "And Harry needs me."

"Who?"

"My...my godson. He needs me. And I have to be there for him." He then realized that he had been squeezing her hand and let it go. "I shouldn't even be telling you this. I just...I needed someone to talk to, you know? You seemed like the kind of person who could understand."

Raven slowly nodded. Somehow the way he'd held her hand like that had made her want to believe him. "So...you're in some kind of trouble?"

Sirius smiled weakly. "I can't tell you any more, so I'll leave now. Thanks for the coffee." He downed the rest of his cup and left.

* * *

_A/N: I'm really not too sure about Sirius telling Raven all of that so soon. But if there's one thing I love about Sirius more than his wit and his sarcasm, it's his faults. I love that he's such a tragic hero, you know? And I think one of his biggest faults is that he's too rash. He doesn't think before he acts very often. And even when he does think about it first, he usually decides to live dangerously and take a chance. And that's what he's doing with Raven. If it was Remus, he would be more careful in this situation, but Sirius isn't like his best friend, as you well know. So that's kind of why it's all happening so fast. Well, that and it would be boring for me to submit seventeen chapters of Sirius not telling Raven anything, right? Oh and by the way: NO, NO, NO this is not fixing to be Sirius/Remus slash. I don't write slash, even tho I find it somewhat amusing at times. They're just acting like any best friends would. (By the way, if you're going to ask how I know Sirius is 33, I'll explain my logic: He graduated Hogwarts in 1978 which means he had to be 17 or 18 then. Add 16 years to that, since this fic is set in 1994, that gives you 33 or 34.) So anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. Let me know in a review, please. Luv, Liveley_


	3. The Count

Renegade

Disclaimer: Sad to say, I don't own Sirius Black. If I did, I would NOT have killed off the closest thing Harry had to a father because poor Harry's been through enough bullshit already in his life! In this chapter, I reference the book The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. I wasn't sure if I needed to mention that here, but decided it was best to cover my bases.

_A/N: The beginning part here is just to get your mind working, possibly burning with questions about Raven. Enjoy the chapter anyways!_

_Liveley_

* * *

Chapter 3 – The Count

Although he hadn't seen Raven in two days, he was still thinking about her. Sirius mostly slept, something he'd not done well in a long time. He'd lie in bed thinking about what he said to her. _'Maybe I shouldn't have told her all that,_' he thought. _'I thought maybe she'd understand._' He smiled as he thought of her singing along to "Back In Black." _'We have a lot in common, I think. Other than the fact that I'm an escaped convict, and she's not. Well, and I'm a wizard, and she's not. And what's up with her age? I swear, she doesn't look twenty-five. Does she want me to think she's older because she likes me? Or maybe she's hiding something, too. She said most people come here to hide from things. What if she meant herself?'_

Raven had been the same way. She went over to Jordan's and tried to pretend Sirius wasn't next door. But she couldn't do it. _'There's something about him I just can't understand. If he were on the run, why would he tell me all that stuff? ...Had to tell somebody, I guess. But still, he trusted me with it, and now I'm leaving him all alone in it. I just don't know what to say. I know he doesn't want to tell me anything more. I don't want to ask the wrong questions. Besides, if I ask him questions, he'll think he can ask me questions. Of course, I know what to say, but I feel bad lying to him now.'_

She glanced at the clock on the TV and walked into the kitchen to take her medicine. She hesitated after closing the refrigerator back up, but slipped on her shoes and stepped out the front door of her house and let it bang back shut. Bounding up to the door and pressing his nose against the screen, Rio gave a loud bark.

Raven turned around and stepped back in the house. "Oh, alright, you can come." Rio jumped up on the wall next to the door and pulled down his leash that was hanging on a hook. Raven smiled and clipped the leash to his collar, kissing the top of his head, fondly. She followed Rio onto Sirius' front porch and knocked. Her eyes widened as she peered through the screen and saw Sirius coming towards her without his shirt on. She took a deep breath as he opened the door and smiled at her.

"Miss me?"

Raven couldn't help smiling back. "Not really. Rio dragged me over here. Care to go for a walk with us?"

"Sure." He stepped out the door and started walking down the steps.

"Um..."

He turned back around, "Did you say something?"

"Aren't you going to put something on first?" she asked, holding back the blush that was threatening to creep up on her cheeks.

Sirius looked down at himself. "Oh shit." He went back into the house and came out a few seconds later with a t-shirt on.

_'Honestly, how could you not know that you're not wearing a shirt?'_ thought Raven to herself. "Isn't Padfoot coming?"

Sirius' eyes widened, but then he shook his head quickly. "Uh...no, he's…out somewhere."

Raven rolled her eyes as they started to walk along the beach. "If I let Rio out for more than a half hour by himself, he gets lost."

Sirius laughed. "Well, Padfoot's very independent."

Raven nodded. "So...where are we?"

"Um, what?"

"Are we friends?"

"You tell me."

"Well...if we set up a kind of 'no questions' rule between us, can we be friends?" asked Raven.

"Does that mean you have something to hide, too?"

Raven stopped walking and turned sideways to look at him, raising her eyebrows and giving him a questioning stare. "Was that a question?"

Sirius opened his mouth and then closed it again. "...No. I'll rephrase: I think you're hiding something from me, too."

"What am I hiding then?"

"I…have no idea."

"Good." She smiled at him.

"Raven is your real name, though, right?"

Raven laughed. "Yes."

"Good, I like Raven."

"Well thanks, Sirius."

Sirius nodded in response. "No questions? I find it hard not to ask questions. How can you not ask questions?"

"Well, no questions about...the past?" explained Raven.

"Oh, I see. But how are we going to get to know each other if we can't ask any questions?"

"Well..." Raven thought for a minute, "there are plenty of questions we can ask each other."

"Like...what's your favorite AC/DC song of all time?" Sirius turned sideways to look at Raven as they walked along.

Raven smiled. "'Night Prowler'."

"Really?"

"It cracks me up. What's yours?"

"Big Balls," said Sirius, almost too quickly.

Raven groaned and rolled her eyes.

"I'm kidding. Definitely 'Back In Black'."

"How come?"

Sirius shrugged. "It's got my name in it."

Raven froze. "Black?"

Sirius realized he'd just told her his last name. "God dammit!"

Raven laughed. "Is this you not telling me anything about yourself? Because you suck at it."

"I think I need to work on my mystique," said Sirius monotonously, shaking his head at himself.

"Maybe just a little bit."

"So...ring any bells?" asked Sirius, cringing a bit at the thought of her suddenly screaming at him, 'Sirius Black! The escaped convict, Sirius Black!' He knew very well they'd even given his picture to the Muggle policemen when he first escaped because they thought he was so dangerous.

"Black? Sirius Black..." Raven looked upward, as though manually searching through her brain for something. "Nope. Sorry."

Sirius furrowed his brows as he watched her. "No? You've got to be shitting me!"

Raven shook her head. "I shit you not. I don't get a paper and I don't even have TV channels. I just watch movies. Once in awhile I'll get a letter from Josh telling me basic things, but it's been about five years since I've heard anything big."

"But still, how can you not know anything that's happened recently in the world?"

"I don't want to know. I have my reasons."

"Is that your way of telling me that it's from your past and you're not going to say anything?"

"Yup," Raven smiled innocently. "So, Sirius Black...you're not like a rock star or anything, are you?"

Sirius smiled widely. "Maybe..." he thought about it for a minute. "Nah, nothing like that."

"Too bad."

"So, what's your last name?"

Raven shook her head. "No, no, no. No one forced it out of you. You told me of your own free will. I don't have to tell you mine just because you let yours slip."

"All right then, I guess we can't be friends," tempted Sirius.

Raven rose her eyebrows. "Oh, so that's how it's going to be, huh? Fine, if that's the way you want it." She quickened her pace and began to walk away from him. Rio remained, almost glaring up at Sirius, and he hurried after her, taking her arm and spinning her to face him.

"Tell me your middle name and we'll call it even," he said. Raven surveyed him skeptically. "I'll even tell you my middle name: Lee."

Raven tried not to smile. "Sirius Lee? Seriously?"

"Afraid so," said Sirius.

"I like it." She smiled, kicked off her sandals and took a few steps onto the wet sand. A wave crashed onto the beach and the water ran across her feet.

Sirius was already barefoot and hurried out after her. "And where do you think you're going? You haven't told me your middle name yet. Come back here. Raven..."

"Leia."

"Raven Leia... It just doesn't sound right without your last name."

"So make one up," she said, continuing to walk along the wet sand.

"Okay," responded Sirius without hesitation, "White."

"White?" asked Raven, looking at Sirius incredulously.

"Yeah, I'm Black, you can be White."

"Are you saying we're opposites?"

"No. Fine, what's your favorite color?"

Raven laughed. "You know, not all people's last name's are colors."

"You're joking!" screeched Sirius in mock surprise.

"Well, I guess I don't really know about _everyone_ else, but mine isn't."

"Oh now we're getting somewhere!" said Sirius slyly, turning in front of her, walking backwards, and looking into her eyes. "Guessing your last name will be easy now that I know it's not a color."

"Just don't call me White. It's too much like Clue."

"Clue?"

"Mrs. White, ya know, from the board game, Clue."

"Never heard of it," said Sirius, absently. "Wait, are you married?"

Raven snorted. "Me? Oh no."

"Well what's that supposed to mean? You could be married, I don't know."

"No, I'm not married. Who could I possibly be married to around here?"

"Good point. I guess you just haven't found Mr. _White_ yet," teased Sirius, playing on 'Mr. Right'.

Raven giggled. "Mr. Right, or Mr. White?"

"Well, in your case it would be Mr. White."

Her giggle turned into a snicker. "You do know that the woman changes her name to the man's last name when she gets married, right?"

"I wouldn't know," shrugged Sirius. "I've never been married."

She started to laugh again. "Are you always this funny, Sirius Black?"

"Not lately with all the shit that's happened to me. Maybe it's just you."

Raven smiled at him.

Friends?" Sirius held out his hand to her for the second time.

She shook it. "Friends."

* * *

Over the next week, Sirius spent most of his time at Raven's. They watched movies, listened to music, read books, and just talked. Strangely enough to Raven, Sirius had never seen any of the movies she had and knew next to nothing about music, other than he liked AC/DC.

Raven came out of the bathroom with her hair dripping wet and a towel around her body to find Sirius bent over her library of books, picking out yet another one for her to read to him.

"Ahem."

Sirius did three things at once: he jumped from hearing her voice, spun around quickly, and, after seeing that Raven was wet and wearing only a towel, dropped the fat book onto the floor.

Raven snickered. "Caught ya. Trying to steal one of my favorite books?"

"Uh..." Sirius's mind had gone blank. He shook his head and tried to concentrate on the book at his feet. "Er...no, sorry. Just thought we could start another one tonight."

Raven snorted. "Meaning you want _me_ to read another book to _you_."

"Naturally," said Sirius as he bent to pick it up off the floor.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm beginning to wonder whether you _can_ read."

"I can! Look here," he held up the book and ran his finger under each word he read. "The…Count…of Monte…Crisco—"

Raven smirked. "_Cristo_."

"Whatever," he continued reading, "by Alexandre…_Dumbass_?"

She giggled and then pronounced the name 'Dumas' with a French accent. "Doo-mah."

"Right. Is it any good, then?"

"Like I said, one of my favorites."

"Okay, then you won't mind reading it to me." He smiled slightly and chanced another look at her. "You got a hot date or something?"

Raven giggled. "Are you implying that I normally don't take a shower unless I want to impress a guy?"

"Well no!"

"You're the one who barged into _my_ house without an invitation! What, was I supposed to know you'd be standing in the middle of my living room when I got out of the shower?

Sirius laughed and relaxed a little bit. She had a way of making any situation, however awkward or embarrassing, a comfortable one. "You're an impossible woman to argue with, did you know that?"

Raven nodded her head and smiled innocently. "I'm going to go get dressed now. Why don't you make us some dinner?"

"You forget, I almost burned down your kitchen two nights ago," he said as she disappeared into her bedroom. He hadn't had much practice cooking in the last thirteen years, not to mention without the use of his wand.

"I didn't forget, I was simply reminding _you_," she said, raising her voice to carry through her bedroom door.

"Yeah, well just for the record you don't have to take a shower to impress me," he called. "You already do," he added quietly to himself as he picked up the book from the floor, set it on the coffee table, and then stared at her television. "How do you turn this thing on again?"

"You worry me sometimes," she said from right behind him.

Sirius didn't turn around. "You're not naked, are you?"

"You think I'm that easy?" She reached in front of him and switched on the TV.

"I don't know. Would you rather watch _Girls Gone Wild_? I've got that over at my house," teased Sirius.

Raven laughed and hit him playfully across the chest. "I may be easy, but I'm _not_ sleazy!"

Sirius let out one sharp, "Ha!... No, I know you aren't. I was kidding, I don't really have that at my house..."

"I'm glad."

"...I lent it to my friend, Remus," he continued, joking.

"All right, I didn't need to know that. That was an over-share."

"I'm kidding, okay? Can you read this?" He held up The Count of Monte Cristo again. "What's it about?"

Raven smiled. "Um, a guy gets sent to prison by his best friend and then he escapes and takes his revenge."

Sirius's eyes widened in shock. "Are you serious?"

"I thought _you_ were Sirius," Raven responded.

Sirius made a face at her and rolled his eyes. "Sounds like a goodie." He lay across the sofa and crossed his legs, putting his arms behind his head and taking up the entire couch. "You can start reading now." He threw the book carelessly back onto the coffee table and thought to himself, _'I'll take notes.'_

"Typical male," Raven muttered under her breath as she picked up the book.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Raven," Sirius said as he sat up and patted the couch space next to him. "Come sit next to Papa."

Raven's mouth dropped open as she promptly seized a pillow and threw it in Sirius' face. "You get weirder every day I'm with you, you know that?" She sat next to him.

Sirius put his arm around her waist and slid her down next to him. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

Raven was surprised both of his strength and of being this close to him. She shivered slightly as she looked into his eyes. _'If we kissed, would it ruin everything?'_ she thought.

But of course at that very moment, Rio jumped up, placed his two front paws in Sirius's lap and the latter groaned and choked out, "Hi, Rio."

"River! Where are your manners?" exclaimed Raven, trying not to laugh at Sirius's pained expression.

Rio barked loudly, licked Sirius's face, and then returned his front paws to the floor.

Raven smirked. "I think he's in love with you."

"Yeah, you always love the ones you hurt," Sirius spoke through gritted teeth.

"I think it's the other way around. But yeah…" Raven let out a hushed laugh and then clapped her hand to her mouth and swallowed. "Where does it hurt, Sirius?"

Sirius looked at her and the ends of his mouth curled upwards. "Use your imagination."

She giggled freely. "Well, I could start reading, would that make you feel better?"

"Not completely, but it's a start."

As Raven began to read with record speed and Rio curled himself up at Sirius's feet, Sirius furrowed his brows. "Wait a second, this is really confusing. How many times have you read this?"

"Oh, you know, two, or three, or…" she shrugged," …forty."

"I see. So…"

"Okay, I'll explain what's going on so far." Raven took a deep breath. "There's this guy Edmond Dantes, he's in love with Mercedes, and his best friend is Fernand Mondego. They met Napoleon Bonaparte who gave Edmond a letter to give to someone once they got back to Marseilles. Because Edmond can't read, he doesn't know that it's a letter to one of Napoleon's agents there, and therefore considered treason. Fernand reads the letter while Edmond's asleep and turns him in. That's the part we're at right now."

"But I thought Fernand was Edmond's best friend," argued Sirius.

Raven nodded. "That's what Edmond thought, too."

Sirius's insides burned as he thought of James and Lily and compared their betrayer, and his betrayer, to Fernand Mondego.

Raven continued reading and soon Sirius was completely engrossed in it. He kept overreacting to everything that happened because it so closely resembled what had happened to him, and Raven, unknowingly, was laughing at him.

"You're really into this, aren't you?" she said, with an amused smirk on her face.

"This is outrageous! That guy just wants Edmond's girlfriend!"

"Ya think?" said Raven, sarcastically, trying to hold in her laughter. "Don't worry, he'll get his revenge."

"How long is he in prison for?"

"Thirteen years in the Chateau D'if."

"Thirteen?" Sirius was amazed. He'd been in for twelve before he escaped Azkaban. "And he escapes?"

"Sirius, do you want me to read the book or just tell you the ending?"

He smiled as Raven went to make some popcorn.

"Hey, there's a cat out there!"

Sirius got up from the sofa and stood behind her, looking out the door. It ran through the yard again and Raven put her hand on the doorknob. Sirius brought his hand up to her shoulder and pulled her back. "Let me get it."

He went outside slowly and into the bushes after the cat. He came out with it in his arms, it desperately trying to get away. He held it in his hands and gently stroked its head. "I can feel her ribs. I think she might be sick," he said as he came back into the house.

Raven resorted to her baby talk. "Aw, hi, baby. Hi, sweetie, are you lost?" She gently took the cat from Sirius and cradled it into her arm, petting it gently with her fingers. "I don't have any cat food. Get a dish of milk, will you?"

Sirius hopped right to it and after the cat had her fill of milk, she was very friendly and laid between the two of them on the couch. Sirius urged Raven to take up the book again and tried to contain his frustration this time so he didn't scare the cat.

"She's a sweetie," he said as he stroked the top of her head and she purred.

"She is. Wonder where she came from."

"Well, she's ours now," said Sirius, simply.

"Ours?"

"Yes, ours. We can't just leave her. She can come live with me."

"Does Padfoot get along with cats?"

"Padfoot loves kitties, he'll be happy to have another animal around."

"What does he need another one for?" teased Raven.

"Hey! I'm no animal!" _'Lies,_' he thought to himself.

* * *

_A/N: If you've never heard "Big Balls" by AC/DC, download it or something, it's hilarious. And if you haven't read or seen the movie, The Count of Monte Cristo and Sirius is your favorite HP character, you should definitely at least check out the movie. First of all, Sirius's situation really closely resembles The Count's and secondly, Jim Caviezel, who played The Count, was one of my top picks to play Sirius in PoA. And by the way, I meant no offense when Sirius read Dumas's name as "Dumbass." He's one of my favorite author's. Sirius was just trying to make Raven laugh. The next chapter is rather eventful and I can't wait to post it, so be sure to leave me a review so I know you want me to! __Luv, Liveley._


	4. You Can't Handle The Truth

Renegade

Disclaimer: Sad to say, I don't own Sirius Black. If I did, I would not have killed off the closest thing Harry had to a father because he's been through enough bullshit already in his life!

_A/N: There was a tiny bit of confusion with the last chapter. Someone, in their review, asked why Sirius couldn't read. Sirius _can_ read just fine. He was merely trying to be funny when reading the title of the book to Raven. And my best friend makes me read Harry Potter to him because he hates to read, otherwise he'd never read them on his own and I wouldn't be able to discuss the books with him. I think most guys will not pick up a big, long book and just start reading for the hell of it. If Sirius can get Raven to read to him, that gives him an excuse to be with her while Raven just thinks he's too lazy to read… So, is that clear? I thought it was just like Sirius. Anyway, I am really grateful to all you who review. This chapter contains a lot of things that you should already know. But I thought it was important to reiterate it… I never tire of hearing it… Hope you don't either. Enjoy.  
__Liveley_  
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* * *

Chapter 4 - You Can't Handle The Truth

Raven woke up early the next morning and couldn't go back to sleep. She decided to go buy some cat food and take it over to Sirius'. She hadn't been in his house and she thought this would be a good way of getting herself invited! She bought the cat food and made her way up Sirius' porch. The door was shut and locked.

Raven knocked. "Sirius? I brought you a present."

"One second!" he called.

"I don't have one second, this is heavy," she teased, leaning the cat food against the wall of the house.

Raven heard him shuffling towards the door. She heard a click and the door opened to reveal Sirius Black standing at the door wearing only a pair of jeans. Raven tried not to blush. She bit her bottom lip and looked at the ground.

"C'mon in, I'll be right back," he said, pushing the door open for her. He turned and went down the hall and into his bedroom.

With a shirtless Sirius out of sight, Raven's senses came back to her. "So, do you ever get completely dressed during the day, or do you just put on clothes to come over to my house?"

"So, wha'd you bring me?" he yelled from his room.

Raven wasn't sure if he had purposefully ignored her comment or just couldn't hear her properly. She rose her voice slightly. "Um...cat food," she brought the bag inside the door. "For our little kitty. Where is she?" Raven's eyes darted around the room. _'A bit messy,_' she thought, _'but then again, he did just move in a few weeks ago.'_

"Uh, she's sleeping on the couch, I think," he yelled back.

Raven made her way over to the couch and sat down next to the sleeping cat. "Wha'd you name her?"

"Well, I thought we should decide together," he said, still from his room. "What do you think of Lily?"

"Lily?..." Raven thought for a minute. "Yeah, that's cute. Lily, it is." She stroked the cat as she resorted to baby talk. "Hi, Lily! Are you hungry, Li--"

She fell silent as she noticed a long wooden stick sitting on the table next to the couch. She suddenly stood up as he came in the room and instinctively lunged for the wand, grabbing it and pointing it at him.

Sirius froze and stared at her, brows furrowed. He put up his hands and said, soothingly, "Raven, what are you doing? Give me that. You don't know what it can do."

"Oh, don't I?" she asked, raising her eyebrow at him and smirking dangerously. "Incarcerous!"

Sirius' eyes widened with shock as thick ropes erupted from his wand and wound themselves around his body tightly. "You're a witch! I thought you were a Muggle!"

"And you did a pretty good job of convincing me _you _were a Muggle!" her eyes bore into him as she kept his wand pointed straight at his heart. "God, how could I have been so stupid? I almost trusted you!"

"Raven, it's not what you think. I can explain everything!"

"So what are you? A Death Eater? Someone from the Ministry sent to find me?" she took a few steps towards him, her mouth very thin.

"What? Raven, you honestly have no idea who I am, do you?"

"I think I'm about to find out if you want to keep your arms!" she gave the wand a little flick and the ropes around Sirius' abdomen tightened slightly.

Sirius flinched and gave her a pleading look. "Do you think you could lose the ropes? They're really digging into me."

Raven saw red marks forming around where the ropes were cutting into his arms. She gave the wand a wave and they dropped to the floor. She continued to point the wand at him. "Sit down and don't even think about moving or I'm going to hex you."

Sirius obeyed. He sat down and looked up at her.

"Well?" she said, waving her other hand in the air for him to start explaining.

"If you had read the Daily Prophet the past few months you'd know exactly who Sirius Black is. He's the only wizard to ever escape Azkaban prison after twelve years--"

Raven gasped. "I knew it! You just admitted it! You're a Death Eater, you were in Azkaban!"

Sirius gritted his teeth. "I'm _not_ a Death Eater! Everyone thought I was. If you want to hear the whole story, don't interrupt me!"

Raven fell silent.

"I was sent to Azkaban for blowing apart a street full of Muggles and one wizard, Peter Pettigrew, my best friend... Have you even heard of Harry Potter?"

"Of course I have! I just haven't heard much in a long time because I told Josh only to tell me things about Voldemort, and there hasn't been much."

"And that's a good thing...right?" asked Sirius, suspiciously. _'I wonder if she's a Death Eater or something,'_ he thought.

Raven spoke through clenched teeth. "I'm asking the questions. Keep going." She pointed her wand at him.

"All right! Harry's my godson."

"What?"

"I was best friends with Lily and James Potter. I was going to be their secret keeper because Voldemort was after them and Harry."

Raven put up a hand to silence him. It was all coming back to her. She had heard about it all those years ago. Black betrayed the Potter's to Voldemort, and then Voldemort went to kill them. A knot formed in her stomach as she remembered the cat still purring contentedly between them.

"Oh my god! Lily? You name your cats after your victims? How sick and demented are you?"

Sirius decided he was going about this the wrong way. He'd better just tell her everything all at once. "I'm innocent! I never betrayed James and Lily! They were my best friends. I would have died for them, that's why I agreed to be their secret keeper at first. But then I thought that would be too obvious. I convinced them to switch secret keepers at the last minute. I thought no one would suspect Peter because he was...well, a wimp...compared to the rest of us, anyway. But it was the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life. Peter was in league with Voldemort all along and he betrayed them. James and I had agreed that it would be better not to tell anyone about my switch with Peter, so everyone thought it was me. Even Lily didn't know! After I found out James and Lily had been killed, I knew the truth, so I went to find Peter and turn him in. He saw me coming and blew apart the entire street, transforming into a rat and leaving behind his own finger as evidence that I had killed him. I was framed by my own best friend. They didn't even give me a fair trial. They put me straight in Azkaban, assuming I was a Death Eater."

Raven was staring at him intently with her mouth open. Her head was spinning. "This makes no sense. I-- How do you expect me to believe a story you had twelve years in Azkaban to come up with?"

Sirius's face fell. "I guess I don't." He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. "You can call the Ministry if you like. I won't put up a fight. I only escaped so I could protect Harry from that _thing_ and turn him in, but it's no use now. I have no idea where he is."

"What _thing_?"

"Peter. He's an Animagus. He cut off his own finger when we were in the street and then transformed, disappearing into the gutter. He'd been living with a wizard family as their pet rat while I was in Azkaban. When I got out, I headed straight for Hogwarts because I saw a picture of him with the Weasley family in an issue of the Daily Prophet that Fudge gave me. I found Peter, but the only people to see him alive were three thirteen year old kids, including Harry, and a werewolf who just happens to be my best friend."

Raven opened her mouth to ask about the werewolf best friend, but decided against it. She shook her head. "There isn't any reason I should believe you."

"Have I tried to hurt you? You've only known me for a short time, but I know you don't think I'm a killer. I'm not a Death Eater and I'm not here for you. I don't even know what you're talking about, all right? And I'm not going to ask. I don't know why, but I just need for you to believe me," pleaded Sirius.

Raven looked sadly at Sirius. "I..." Raven was struck with a sudden idea. "Will you let me use Legilimency on you?" She raised his wand.

Sirius jumped as she pointed the wand at him again. "You know how?"

"Yeah. Josh taught me," she said as though this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"O...kay... How do I do it? No one's ever..."

"Just relax and let your thoughts flow freely. Don't fight me. Concentrate."

"...All right..." He shifted uncomfortably on the couch as she sat next to him.

"Legilimens!" she yelled as she pointed the wand at him.

She could suddenly see inside his mind. Random memories of his started to enter her mind. First she saw a boy about thirteen years old with a scar on his head waving out a window at Hogwarts. That must have been Harry. Next she saw Sirius and another man eating cereal at a kitchen table. She pushed further and saw the shadow of a man morphing into a werewolf. Then she saw Sirius and a small, mousy-haired man pointing their wands at each other. Sirius was yelling at the man as he cast a spell. There was an explosion, and then he transformed into a rat. Three kids, one of them was Harry, the man from the kitchen and Sirius were pointing their wands at the mousy looking man. Then she saw Sirius, twelve years younger being thrown roughly into a cell in Azkaban. She watched as a group of wizards surrounded a young Sirius sitting in a chair with shackles around his arms and legs. One of them pointed a wand at him and Sirius' body went rigid. His eyes rolled up into his head and his body writhed as he yelped in terrible pain.

Raven jumped and pushed the memories away. The room came back into focus. She was breathing heavily and suddenly had a terrible headache.

Sirius grabbed her hands, as Raven reflexively jerked them upward, and looked into her eyes. "What did you see?"

He was sitting only an inch from her. "They...they were...torturing you?"

Comprehension dawned on Sirius's face. "For me to give them names of other Death Eaters. They thought I was one, remember?"

Raven looked at Sirius compassionately as Lily, the cat, jumped up into her lap and purred. They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment.

Raven finally spoke, "So this is why you were so obsessed with The Count of Monte Cristo?"

Sirius smiled weakly. "Yeah, I'm Edmond, Peter is Fernand, and the Chateau D'if is Azkaban."

"I see…and who's Mercedes?"

"Well, I should say you, but if you got married to Peter, I'd _really_ have to kill him."

Raven smirked. "Yeah…"

"So…" Sirius looked up at her expectantly, "does this mean you believe me?"

She smiled and shrugged. "I guess so."

Incredibly relieved, Sirius suddenly pulled Raven into a rib-shattering hug. Surprised, Raven tensed slightly and then relaxed as he clung to her.

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you..." muttered Sirius through the black hair that was against his face.

Raven didn't quite know what to say or do. She decided to just sit and let him hold her if he needed to. She didn't exactly object to it.

After a few minutes he released her and made himself busy opening the cat food and pouring some in a bowl for Lily. Raven had a feeling he was trying to compose himself.

"I know you probably don't want to think about this anymore than you have to, but..." Raven trailed off as he sat next to her again.

"It's all right. What?"

"Well, how in the hell did you escape? It's supposed to be impossible to escape from Azkaban."

Sirius grinned. He was rather proud of how he accomplished it, being the first and only person to ever escape.

"Well, there's one more thing you don't know about me."

"Only one?" asked Raven, raising her eyebrows.

"Well...one more major thing."

"I knew it!" exclaimed Raven triumphantly. "You're actually a woman?"

Sirius' mouth dropped open and he let out a short laugh. "Fine, call me a woman and see if I tell you how I escaped." He crossed his arms in front of him and tilted his head upward, making a pouty face.

"Oh you will tell me, Black," said Raven as she threateningly raised his wand and pointed it once more at him, "if you know what's good for you."

"What are you gonna do?" asked Sirius anxiously.

"Diffindo," replied Raven, nonchalantly

"The cutting spell? What exactly are you going to…" Sirius trailed off uneasily, fearing he already knew the answer.

"Each and every limb from your body, starting with your _shortest_, capiche?"

Sirius' eyes widened in pretend shock and the two of them burst into laughter.

"Then I really _would_ be a woman," teased Sirius.

"Okay now, seriously…Sirius." she started to laugh again.

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry! How many times in your life have people used that terrible pun?"

"Too many to count, definitely. Could I have my wand back, please?"

"Not a chance. I'm not finished interrogating you yet. I want to know how you—"

"Escaped?" Sirius asked. "With difficulty. But I have an advantage over anyone who's in Azkaban right now."

Raven's expression was questioning. "Which is?"

Sirius suddenly transformed into Padfoot, the big black dog Raven believed to be his pet.

Raven stared as her mouth dropped open. "Why you little..."

Sirius had already transformed into himself again. "Little what?"

Raven found the word as her hands found her hips. "Animal! You were spying on me?"

"Naturally," said Sirius offhandedly. "I'd just spent twelve years confined in a cell, Raven. I couldn't resist a beautiful girl." He looked straight into her eyes, seemingly not in the least bit apprehensive about what he'd just said.

Raven bit her bottom lip and rolled her eyes. "I bet you use that excuse on all the women you spy on!"

"What other women? There's only been you!"

"Am I supposed to be flattered?"

Sirius smiled widely. "Whatever you like."

Raven shook her head. "So how was that a difficult escape then? And why didn't you do it sooner?"

Sirius held up his hands parallel to each other and spread them about 6 or 7 inches apart. "The bars were only this far apart. But after so many years of getting shit to eat everyday, I eventually became thin enough as a dog. I also had to wait until the Dementor effects wore off. They nearly drove me insane when I first got there, and for a long time after. But eventually I was able to hold onto the thought that I was innocent. It wasn't exactly a happy thought because I was still stuck in that hell hole, but it kept me sane enough until I discovered that as a dog, dementors didn't affect me as much."

Raven nodded her head a bit as she thought. "Dementors can't see, right? It's perfect. Animal thoughts are less...complex?"

"Exactly. I could still feel them, but it wasn't nearly as bad. Anyways, when Fudge visited Azkaban this year, there was a picture of the Weasley family in Egypt and Ron Weasley, who is one of Harry's best friend, had Peter, as a rat on his shoulder in the picture. Ron had been keeping him as a pet."

"But…" Raven stared at him, "how did you know it was Peter? There are hundreds of billions of…"

Sirius held up his hand. "Don't hex me with that thing," he indicated his own wand that Raven was holding, 'I'm going to my room to get the newspaper clipping. You can come if you like."

Raven followed him into his room, still clutching his wand, though she was far from using it on him now. Sirius kicked away a few articles of clothing, which were scattered around the room, and bent down next to his bed, which was unmade.

Raven looked around the messy room and smirked. "You need a maid."

Sirius looked up with a grin after reaching under the bed and pulling out the Daily Prophet with the Weasley family on the front. "Are you offering?"

"Hell no. But are you a wizard or aren't you?" Raven gave his wand a flick and Sirius's bed made itself. "It's not very neat, but at least it's something."

"Hey, thanks!" said Sirius happily. "Anyway, look." He held the paper out to her. "There's Peter. I would have recognized him anyway just because of how many times I've seen him transform. We were all unregistered Animagi, you see. James, Peter, and I. But if you look closely," Raven bent closer to the newspaper, "you can see there's a toe missing from his front paw, and—"

"All that was left of Pettigrew was a finger?" supplied Raven.

"Right. I thought you said you didn't remember."

She shrugged. "It's all coming back to me."

"Good. Well, when I saw that Wormtail was—"

"Wormtail?" interrupted Raven.

"Sorry, that's what we called him because his Animagus form was a rat. I was Padfoot, and James was Prongs because he was a stag."

"Oh…okay, go on."

"I saw Wormtail with Ron—if you read the caption there it says he went to Hogwarts with Harry—and I stopped eating entirely, save enough food to keep me alive, in the hope that I might be able to slip through the bars. When I was thin enough to do so, I swam to the mainland as a dog and then went to find the rat."

"So when did you become an Animagus?"

"In my fifth year."

Raven looked impressed. "Really? Was it complicated?"

Sirius shrugged. "Well, not to brag or anything, but I was one of the top students in my year."

Raven rolled her eyes. "So was I."

"You went to Hogwarts?"

She nodded.

"Yeah? And then what?" asked Sirius.

Raven gave him a look and shook her head.

"Raven, that's not fair! I told you my story, now you're going to tell me yours."

"And if I don't?" she said, eyeing him adamantly.

"If you don't..." started Sirius, tapping his finger to his lip as if thinking.

He quickly lunged forward and clasped his fingers around his wand. Raven kept hold firmly and they paused for a moment, staring into each other's eyes, searching for a sign of surrender. With his other hand, Sirius tickled Raven's ribs and she reflexively doubled over, forgetting the wand and launching into a fit of giggles. Stowing the wand in his back pocket, Sirius continued to tickle her, kneeling over her on the couch and laughing along with her. Choking with laughter, Raven suddenly threw him off of her and lay sprawled out on his couch trying to regain her regular breathing. Sirius steadied himself on the opposite end of his couch and continued to laugh.

Raven gave him an icy stare. "That's not fair. You cheated."

"Quite the predicament you're in, Raven. 'It's not fair?' You think it's fair that I tell you my whole life story when you haven't even told me your full name?"

"Sirius, don't push your luck. It had already been pushed to its limit when I said I believed your story."

"I'll take my chances," said Sirius, drawing the wand from his pocket and twirling it around his fingers. "Quid pro quo, my dear."

Raven looked from the wand to Sirius and then smiled sweetly. "You wouldn't. You'd miss me too much."

"You're right, I wouldn't kill you. I couldn't even kill the man who betrayed my best friends and sent me to Azkaban for twelve years. But I do know a pretty heinous tickling jinx…"

Raven gasped. "You're despicable."

"I am, yes." He gave her a sexy smile.

Raven took a long breath. "All right…but I'm starving. I'll tell you over breakfast."

Sirius got up from the couch and extended a hand to Raven, stowing his wand in the back pocket of his jeans with his other hand. "Breakfast…burritos?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "You with the burritos, honestly…"

* * *

A/N: Well…that's done. But in the next chapter you get to find out about Raven… Any ideas? I'd love to hear them. I won't make fun. You're probably right anyway ; ) Let me know in your review. I really can't stress this enough: the more reviews I get, the faster I update. The next chapter's all ready to go…I'm just waiting on you ; ) Luv, Liveley. 


	5. Quid Pro Quo

Renegade

Disclaimer: Sad to say, I don't own Sirius Black. If I did, I would not have killed off the closest thing Harry had to a father because he's been through enough bullshit already in his life!

_­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­A/N: Those of you who reviewed, thank you very much! Those of you who have me on story alert and didn't review, what were you thinking? Hehe. I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you like this one also. By the way, I finally updated my author profile since it was over a year old. It has my most recent email address and my website link if anyone wants to check it out. Just thought I'd mention that. Thanks, enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

Chapter 5 – Quid Pro Quo

Lily the cat ate her food happily in the kitchen. Sirius had decided to bring her from his house so she wouldn't be alone. After Raven had made breakfast burritos to Sirius liking and he had eaten six of them, he looked up at her expectantly.

"So, tell me."

Raven took a deep breath. "Well, what do you think you know?"

"I know you're not twenty-five."

"Well, you'd be wrong. I'm almost twenty-six," she smiled, mysteriously.

"Care to explain that then?"

"Not really."

"Well, you're about to if you want to actually make it to twenty-six," said Sirius, mimicking what Raven had said to him earlier.

Raven rolled her eyes. "I don't look twenty-six, because I don't age."

"What are you talking about?"

"And I don't die."

"You're immortal?" asked Sirius, disbelievingly.

She took another deep breath, and answered in an attempt to get the worst out first, "I'm a vampire."

Sirius tensed visibly and choked out, "A vampire?"

Raven nodded without taking her eyes from his.

Sirius shook his head. "But there aren't even any vampires left! There was this whole big fiasco at the Ministry like twenty years ago, about vampires being hunted to extinction."

"_Almost_ to extinction, yes. I never understood exactly how the Ministry could be sure they'd gotten them all. Some were asleep. They're very rare in Europe now. Most live among humans peacefully. They don't feed. There are quite a few more in America."

"Raven, you don't even have fangs," said Sirius as his eyes wandered to her teeth just to make sure.

"I don't grow fangs unless I thirst for blood. I don't thirst for blood unless I forget to take my potion every twenty-four hours."

"What potion?"

"The Wolfsbane potion. It was developed as a cure for lycans, but when they found out it only made their symptoms less severe, they tried it on vampires. Vampires and lycans..." she trailed off as she noticed Sirius' obviously confused expression. "What?"

"Lycans...?"

"Werewolves. Vampires and _werewolves_ are very similar creatures. Basically the only difference is that werewolves are affected by moon cycles while vampires can turn at any time. And lycans are uglier," she added offhandedly.

"Hey! My best friend is a...lycan or whatever you call it. So you take the potion and then what?"

"If I take the potion, I'm normal; I can't turn into a vampire. Vampires without the potion are victims to the smell of blood. If they see or smell blood, the vampire in them takes over and who knows what they could do. If I take the potion, I can be in the sunlight, I can eat regular food, and I won't be able to turn."

"Can you eat garlic?"

Raven laughed. "I'm actually quite fond of garlic. The garlic thing is bullshit, as well as the holy water, and the crucifixes and so on. Almost all of that stuff is bullshit. Pretty much the only thing that can kill a vampire is a stake through the heart or continuous direct sunlight because they can heal themselves."

"So how old were you when you were bitten?"

"Nineteen."

"And then you came here?"

Raven nodded. "With my cousin, Josh."

"What about your parents?"

"They're dead," she said without expression.

Sirius's eyes brimmed with sympathy. "I'm sorry. How did they…"

"My mum died giving birth to me, and my dad…well, he didn't really want me after that. I grew up with my uncle, Josh's dad."

"So how did you get bitten?"

"Well, my uncle died when I was nineteen… I don't know, I guess I was all depressed and I met a cute guy who said he knew how I felt. Next thing I knew, I was a vampire and Josh said I had to hide somewhere so no one would find out."

"And you've been here ever since?"

"Pretty much. I guess I could go back… I've learned how to deal with it now. No one would ever find out. But I like it here. Miss Josh though."

Sirius smiled. "So…is that all?"

"Yeah, I guess," said Raven, looking up at him. "I think you have me beat."

"What do you mean?" asked Sirius.

"You have a better reason to be a renegade than I do."

"Oh," Sirius nodded, "but I wish I didn't."

"Yeah, I'm sure you do. So…what about this werewolf friend of yours?

"Remus. What do you mean, what about him?"

"I don't know… When was he bitten?" asked Raven.

"When he was little, before he came to Hogwarts."

"He went to Hogwarts?" Raven seemed slightly shocked.

"Yes. Dumbledore didn't see any reason why not. He made arrangements for him. Do you remember that tree on the grounds? The Whomping Willow, everyone called it?"

Raven thought for a moment and then nodded. "I think so."

"It was planted the year Remus came. There's a secret passageway under it that leads to a shack in Hogsmeade."

"The Shrieking Shack, you mean?"

"Right, but it was only ever haunted by Remus. He went there to transform. That's why James, the rat, and I became Animagi, you see? So we could be with him."

Raven smiled. "I'm sure that meant a lot to him. You didn't disown him for being a werewolf."

"We had lots of fun."

"Oh really?" Raven smiled. "Well, I think I should meet him."

"As long as you don't like him better than me," Sirius gave her a wink. "I think I should meet your friend next door, too."

"As long as you don't like _her_ better than me," she smirked.

"No worries," he replied. "So those burritos really hit the spot… What's for lunch?"

Raven grinned somewhat maliciously. She leaned forward and whispered, "Mr. Black, you _are_ my lunch."

* * *

Raven opened the door and stepped backwards to let Sirius saunter in. He froze when he saw another woman sitting at Raven's kitchen table, looking him up and down. He glanced quickly at Raven. Sensing his apprehensiveness, Raven placed herself between them and gestured from one to the other.

"Jordan, this is Sirius. Sirius, Jordan.

"Hi," said Sirius uneasily.

"Hellooo," replied Jordan all-knowingly.

Raven gave Jordan a look. She had a way of looking as though she could tell everything about a person by just being in their company.

Jordan broke into a smile. "I've heard all about you. Are you a witch, too?"

"Jordan…" warned Raven. "First of all, it's a cardinal sin to tell any Muggle of your magical powers so unless you want me to wipe your memory, I suggest you—"

Jordan held up her hand and grinned. "Don't get your knickers in a twist, Raven, I'll be good."

"Thank you. And secondly, females are witches, males are _wizards_." She turned to Sirius. "Sorry, she made me tell her everything a few years ago."

An amused grin crept along Sirius' lips and he shrugged. "It's okay."

He took a seat at the table and helped himself to Raven's 'chocoffee', which is what Sirius' had insisted on calling it after he'd been there every morning since to have her coffee mixed with hot chocolate.

"I was just telling Raven how I haven't seen her in so long. She seems to be preoccupied lately by something...or someone," suggested Jordan, slyly.

Raven rolled her eyes and stepped on Jordan's foot under the table.

She ignored it. "So has she told you everything, Sirius? All her deep, _dark_ secrets?"

Sirius smiled widely and turned to Raven questioningly.

"What?" she asked, returning his smile.

"You have more than one deep, dark secret?" he asked, leaning forward on his chair.

"You already know my _one_ deep, dark secret."

"You sure about that?" he asked.

"Quite!" Raven gave his shoulder a push and the back two legs of his chair snapped back down to the floor.

Sirius put his arms out to balance himself. Then he narrowed his eyes on Jordan. "Does she treat you like this?"

"Oh no," said Jordan. "But then again, she'd be barking up the wrong tree if she did."

Raven gasped and stood from her chair, pulling Jordan up with her by the arm. "All right, Jordi, that's quite enough. You'll be going now." Jordan was forced to stand and walk behind Raven to the door. Sirius was laughing.

"Wha'd I say?" she asked innocently. She turned and nodded her head to Sirius. "I guess I'll be going now. Nice to meet you, Sirius."

"Likewise," he replied.

"Have fun," she called as she took the porch steps two at a time and retreated to her own house.

Raven sat back down at the table and sighed.

"I like her," said Sirius.

Raven smiled. "You would."

"You didn't have to kick her out, you know."

"I do every morning she's here. She has to be at work in five minutes."

"Oh," Sirius nodded. "She's very direct, isn't she?"

"I'm surprised you noticed," joked Raven as she refilled his cup.

"So if you were a vampire right now, could you read my mind?" he asked as he took a sip immediately.

Raven groaned. "Oh, we're talking about that again?"

"Well yeah, I want to know."

"Yes, I could read your mind," she answered.

"Good thing you're not a vampire right now then."

"I don't need to be a vampire; I already know what you're thinking, and the answer is no."

"You do _not_ know what I'm thinking right now."

"You're thinking you want me to make you more breakfast burritos."

Sirius laughed. "Oh come on then! You know you want to…"

She shook her head. "No, I really don't. There are some blueberry muffins Jordi brought over."

Sirius took one from a basket on the table. "She as good a cook as you?"

"If I say yes, will you go bug her every morning instead of me?"

"Are you kidding?" Sirius took a bite of the muffin. "You are the _only_ woman…" Sirius took one of Raven's hands, leaned forward, and looked into her eyes adoringly, "…at this table."

Raven giggled.

"Hey, do you have any vampire books?"

"Yeah, a couple."

"Okay, we're reading those…" Raven cleared her throat and Sirius smirked. "_You're_ reading those next. Okay?"

"Why?" Raven asked, furrowing her brows.

"Because I want to know what it's like."

"They make it sound like it's a gift. Like it would be cool to be a vampire."

"And it isn't?" asked Sirius.

"Of course it isn't. To thirst for blood? To kill people for it? I mean, sure, teleporting is cool, and being able to heal yourself, but—"

"Hang on, teleport? Is that just another word for Apparating?" asked Sirius.

"It's like Apparating, but it's not disappearing and reappearing somewhere else. It's moving like everyone else does, only much, much faster. Faster than humans can see anyway."

Sirius shook his head. "I'm getting a headache."

"Don't think much, do you?" she teased.

Sirius smiled at the joke. "So do you ever see Josh? Why don't you go back?"

"Yeah, I see him every once in awhile. Like I said, I just like it here now."

"You like being cut off from the world?" asked Sirius.

"Your best friend is a lycan, right? I'm sure he's told you how hard it is being a werewolf. You try to hide it, but people find out and then it all blows up in your face. It's better here. No one asks me questions I don't feel like answering." She put on a smile and kicked Sirius lightly in the shin. "Then you came along."

"Oh don't give me that. You're relieved."

"Relieved of what?"

"Relieved that I know and I'm not freaked out or scared of you."

"You're not scared of me? You haven't seen me as a vampire, Sirius. You'd be scared."

"I would not! I'm not scared of werewolves, and vampires don't bite dogs, do they?"

"Not unless they're desperate," she teased.

"So when Jordan was talking about your deep, dark secret, she meant that you were a vampire, right? I mean, she knows, doesn't she?" Sirius gestured out the window.

"Jordi? She's my one and only friend, of course she knows."

Sirius frowned and scoffed. "Your only friend?"

"You sure you wanna be my friend?"

"If that's your best offer," he said in an undertone.

"What was that, Mr. Black?" asked Raven, although she had heard what he said.

"Uh, I think you heard me," he grinned at her.

"Right…" Raven flushed slightly.

* * *

_A/N: Raven's a vampire. Well, lah-dee-frickin-dah! Not terribly clever seeing as I luv vampires and want desperately to be one, lol. I had to really refrain myself from going off about Spike from Buffy and Lestat. Anyway, what do you think? Was it obvious? No one guessed it in his/her review so I hope it was okay… Please, please review! Luv, Liveley._


	6. In A Vampire's Absence

Renegade

Disclaimer: Sad to say, I don't own Sirius Black. If I did, I would not have killed off the closest thing Harry had to a father because he's been through enough bullshit already in his life!­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

_A/N: Thanks for the great reviews. I'm getting about 10 per chapter, which is really great! Reviews make my day so much better, I can tell you. One reviewer was really mad at me because in the last chapter there was a part where Sirius and Raven almost kissed. I'm sorry, but I didn't want it to happen until they both knew what they were dealing with. So now that they _do_ know…._

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Chapter 6 – In A Vampire's Absence

Without a knock, Sirius pushed open the front door of Raven's house and ambled slowly in. Without a word, he went straight to the kitchen, opened a cupboard, and took out a mug. Then he went to the coffee machine and tilted it to fill the cup. He did this for four or five seconds before he realized that the coffee pot was empty as was the cup he was trying to fill. _'Maybe she isn't up, yet,_' Sirius thought. He exited the kitchen, putting the clean cup back into the cupboard, and crept slowly to her bedroom door. It was closed, but slightly ajar. This time he did knock.

"Raven?"

There was no answer.

"Are you asleep?…" Nothing. "Are you…naked? I'm coming in."

Sirius stuck his head through the door hesitantly and then looked around the room. He had never been in her bedroom before, but he guessed this isn't how she usually left it. The bed was not made (he remembered how it had annoyed her when he had left his unmade) and her nightclothes were scattered along the floor. Her wardrobe had been thrown open and was in disarray.

"Okay…" he spoke to himself as worry crept over him. "Rio?" he whistled, but Rio did not bound up to him like he usually did. Neither of them was in the house.

Sirius shrugged it off at first. He went back to his own house and fed Lily her breakfast. _'Maybe she went shopping. Women like to go shopping, right?_' This satisfied him for a little while, until, _'And what? She took her dog with her to the mall?'_ He pushed away from the window, where he was watching for her return and got in the shower, thinking she'd be there when he got out. When she wasn't, he got even more worried. _'What if someone found out she was a vampire and…and I don't know what…'_

As darkness was falling and Raven hadn't come back all day, Sirius was finding it hard to sit still. He jumped up and ran to his window at every cricket chirp and every crashing wave. After doing so several times in a row, he rolled his eyes and scoffed with disgust at himself.

He finally made up his mind, threw on a t-shirt—Raven was right, he barely ever got completely dressed unless he was going over to see her—and threw open his front door. Jumping when he came to the porch steps and completely clearing them, he walked briskly past his own house, past Raven's house, and then stopped uncertainly, staring up at the one before him. He shrugged, walked up the steps, and knocked hesitantly on the door.

Jordan opened the door and stepped back to admit him with a mischievous smirk on her face. "Aw, you miss her, don't you?"

Sirius entered the house. It was very neat. He wondered briefly how he hadn't noticed Raven was not a Muggle before he found out from her. Raven had a television, a radio, and most Muggle kitchen appliances, but that was about it. Jordan had a rack full of Muggle magazines, a case full of Muggle music (all Raven had was AC/DC) a desk with paper, pens, envelopes, stamps, etc., and many other Muggle objects scattered throughout the house.

Sirius turned to glare at her. "Do you know where she is?"

"Well, no, not exactly. I don't really want to know—"

At the sound of Sirius's voice, Rio had issued a loud bark from a back room and trodden into the living room.

"Rio!" exclaimed Sirius, bending down to scratch his ears.

"…either," finished Jordan. "Hasn't she told you about…you said you knew her _big_ secret, right?"

"That she's a vampire? She told me, yes. Does that have something to do with her being gone all day?" asked Sirius, trying, and failing, to avoid Rio as he licked at Sirius's face.

"Well, of course it does," stated Jordan, as though this was the most obvious thing in the whole world. "When it gets to be too much for her, she clears out for a little while and leaves the dog with me."

Sirius stood up. "When what gets to be too much for her?"

Jordan gestured to two armchairs that were in front of her television and took up one of the seats. Sirius took the other. "Being a vampire, obviously."

"…I don't think I get what you mean," said Sirius, unsurely. "She said if she takes her potion, she isn't a vampire."

"She's always a vampire somewhere inside. And if she doesn't let it out every once in awhile, it could completely take her over. I doubt she told you that." Sirius shook his head as Rio nudged one of his hands with his wet nose and Sirius pet him absentmindedly. "She didn't want to scare you away, I'm sure. ...But I can tell by the looks of you that that's out of the question," she smirked again.

Sirius chose not to argue with this last comment. "Well, when will she be back?"

"Oh, she won't be long, don't worry. She feels the same about you, you know."

Sirius grinned, but said, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Jordan."

"Of course you don't," she responded.

"So how often does she do this?"

"I don't know, every few months, I guess. It comes upon her very suddenly, you know, and by then, taking her medicine won't help, so she needs to get away from everyone. She usually just lets Rio out so he won't attack her, and he's learned to come over here. This is why she got the dog all those years ago, in case she didn't notice the change. Hard not to notice it, I would think."

Sirius nodded, though he was still very confused.

"Would you like something to drink, Sirius?"

"What?" He was deep in thought. "Oh, no thanks. I guess I'll get back home and wait for her to come back. Sorry for just barging in on you like this." He stood and made his way for the door.

"Don't be silly; we have a mutual friend. Raven's a very confusing girl, but I've known her quite some time now, so if you ever need answers, don't hesitate, really."

Sirius laughed. "Thanks. I'll see you around then."

"Okay."

Raven didn't return until 2:17 the next morning. Sirius was awoken from his stupor as he slouched on his couch by a loud bark, undoubtedly from Rio. He jumped up and after seeing lights on inside her house from his window was out the door in a matter of seconds.

As he pushed open her front door silently, Raven was crouched over Rio, scratching the top of his head and giggling as he tried, and failed, to lick her face. Sirius didn't bother thinking. He walked quickly up to her without saying a word. As he neared her and she, now alerted to his presence, stood up, he placed one arm around her waist and pulled her against him, covering her mouth with his own.

Raven was understandably taken aback, but met his lips willingly, only letting a short gasp escape her throat. With one hand still firmly around her waist, he placed the other at the back of her neck, kissing her more deeply. Rio was whining and nudging at his empty food dish at their feet, but Sirius and Raven no longer had ears: only lips…and tongues…and hands.

After several indistinguishable moments, Sirius broke off the kiss, letting them both catch their breath.

Raven's eyes would not leave Sirius's as she cleared her throat and said, rather unsteadily while smirking, "If this is your way of getting me to make more of those ruddy burritos…"

He kissed her abruptly again and she laughed into it. "Maybe it's my way of telling you I missed you."

She smiled. "Yeah, that part was obvious. I'm sorry I couldn't let you know. I had to get away as soon as possible."

Sirius nodded. "Jordan told me. You don't have to apologize."

Rio's whining became more persistent as the two of them stood staring at each other. Raven sighed and tore her eyes away to fill Rio's bowl. Sirius leaned against the kitchen table watching in silence until she was finished and Rio was eating happily.

"So…have fun, did you?"

"Not exactly," Raven answered, sitting down opposite him. "Do you really want burritos?"

"Actually, I wanted to show you something," said Sirius, closing the distance between them again and reaching for her hand.

Raven looked up at him mischievously. "Show me something?"

"Come on," he said, pulling her from the kitchen and out her front door.

"Sirius, you're pulling my arm out of its socket," said Raven, trying to find her feet as he pulled her strongly toward his house.

He slowed up so that Raven could walk next to him and they fell in step together. She turned to look at him sideways.

"Where are you taking me, Sirius Black?"

"Down into my basement," he said, trying to sound as normal about it as possible.

Raven stopped walking. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah… I want you to see something," he said, taking her hand again and pulling her.

"But what exactly are you planning on showing me?" she asked, trying to resist him.

"You'll see. What, are you scared?" he dragged her up his front steps and through his house.

As he opened the door leading to the basement stairs, he picked up a bloodstained gray bag leaning against the adjacent wall. He led Raven down in front of him.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she stopped. "I'm here. What do you want me to see?"

"Around the corner, to your left," said Sirius as he set down the bag at the foot of the stairs.

"Wait." He put one hand over Raven's eyes and another in the middle of her back, leading her around the corner and forward.

Buckbeak gave a loud hoot as he saw Sirius coming towards him and Raven quickly wrenched Sirius's hand from her eyes and jumped backwards into him. Sirius let out a chuckle, which he regretted as she gave him a look of pure terror. Leading her slowly forward, he gently put his hands on her shoulders and spoke soothingly into her ear.

"This is the hippogriff that helped me escape from Hogwarts. His name is Buckbeak. He won't hurt you if you don't insult him."

Raven looked over the creature. He had the hind legs and tail of a horse, but eagle wings and head. Her eyes drifted to the six-inch, long talons on the beast's two front legs and she shuddered. Sirius's voice floated back to her, insistently.

"I'm not going to let him hurt you, Rave." He reached around Raven and stroked Buckbeak's gray feathers, reassuring him. He then returned to Raven's side and pushed her up to him. "Look him in the eye and try not to blink too much. That's it. Now you have to bow."

"What?" She spoke out of the corner of her mouth, but didn't dare look away from the hippogriffs brilliant orange eyes.

"Like in karate. Bow. You have to let him make the first move."

Raven didn't argue. She cautiously bowed and then looked up. Buckbeak immediately sank into a bow and Sirius smiled. He moved up behind her again, taking her hand and running it across Buckbeak's feathery beak. The hippogriff reacted much like Lily the cat would have if Raven had been petting it. She relaxed slightly.

"You escaped on _this_?" she asked.

"Yep."

"He's beautiful," she said as she more freely ran her fingers across his feathers.

"Mmhmm," said Sirius into her ear.

Raven smirked at how close they were standing again. She turned her head slightly to glance back at him. Sirius was biting his bottom lip, but smiling at her.

"So are you."

He kissed her again, fervency rising quickly in both of them. There seemed to be a sort of desperate intensity to the way he kissed her. They were both getting more lost in it each time their lips met.

For the second time, an impatient animal broke them apart. Buckbeak gave another loud hoot, as he impatiently waited for his dinner, and the two of them jumped away from each other. Sirius gave Raven a sideways smirk before leaving her to get the bag he'd left by the stairs.

He spoke to Buckbeak as he pulled a dead rat from the bag and held it by its tail. "Yeah, yeah, I know what you want."

Raven cringed as she watched Buckbeak devour the rat. He finished it in a matter of seconds and lifted his head questioningly again.

"Want another one?" Sirius threw him another rat and he caught it with ease. "What about you, Rave?"

"Actually I do," she said, as she pulled down on the collar of his shirt until his lips met hers again.

* * *

_A/N: I was getting tired of dancing around the subject, so I just decided to get it over with. What did you think? Extremely corny, I know…especially the first time they kissed. I never write stuff like that, but I just couldn't help myself. Reviews are greatly appreciated, you know. If your day was brightened by reading this, why don't you brighten mine also with a review? This is the last chapter that I have completely written. After this I just have notes on where I want the story to go. And all of a sudden I have so much homework in all of my classes that it's not even funny. So posting will most likely slow down a bit. I'd really appreciate your patience. Thanks! Luv, Liveley._


	7. A Thing

Renegade

Disclaimer: Sad to say, I don't own Sirius Black. If I did, I would not have killed off the closest thing Harry had to a father because he's been through enough bullshit already in his life!­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long! I didn't really realize it because I'm also uploading this story on Mugglenet they're way behind you guys because it takes longer for the mods to approve the chapters (and they're not as good at reviewing). I've also been extremely busy with midterms and family issues, but I'm on Spring Break now, so I'm suddenly able to get a bit of writing done. The last chapter was a little bit too mushy for me, and I had intended for this chapter to contain less of it. However, I have failed, yet again, in my attempt to suppress the mush, and rather than leave you even longer without a chapter, I decided to let it go. So here's a very short seventh chapter. I hope you can stand it. Your frustrations on the shortness or the mushiness of it can be expressed in a review. Thank you._

_Luv, Liveley_

_Actually, I did end up lengthening it a bit, just adding stuff here and there, so hopefully you won't find it as short. Still, enjoy._

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Chapter 7 – A Thing

Raven watched amusedly as William emerged from Jordan's bedroom wearing only his boxers. He gave her a cheeky grin as his sandy blonde hair fell into his handsome face.

"Good morning, Raven." He sat across from her as Jordan set a plate of waffles in front of him.

Raven smirked. "Not too modest, are ya, Will?"

William shrugged. "You're Jordi's best friend. We're practically family."

Quickly, Raven turned to survey her best friend. "Does this mean he finally came to his senses and asked you to marry him?"

Jordan let out a short laugh. "Ha! As soon as _that_ happens, I'll jump out of my wheelchair and do an Irish jig!"

The two women giggled as William frowned. "It's only been two years…"

This spurred a new chorus of laughter.

William sighed as he doused his waffles in syrup and began to eat. "You lot are so mean to me."

"Well all I'm saying is you might as well ask her to marry you now because at the rate you move, you'll have a six-year engagement," Raven commented.

"Ha…ha…ha," he mocked as he took another bite of his breakfast. "Changing the subject, Jordi tells me you've got a dark horse in the running."

Raven glared at Jordan, who smirked. "What? It slipped out… And I didn't say you had 'a dark horse in the running,' I said you had the look of someone who's being shagged regularly."

"Jordi!" Raven gasped. "For your information, no one's shagging _anyone_ around here with the exception of you two!"

"Well," said William, pulling Jordan into his lap as he pushed his plate away, "can't argue with that."

Jordan grinned as Raven shook her head. "Gross. Okay, I'll be going now."

"Wait, I want to come see Rio," William said, planting a kiss on Jordan's cheek and nudging her off his lap so he could stand. "Last time I was here he'd run off, remember?"

Raven smiled. "Gotten lost is more like it. All right, come on then, and put some clothes on, won't you?"

He looked down at himself. "What for?"

Jordan smirked as she pointed to a coat rack next to the door where several spring jackets were hung. "Put on my coat."

William strode toward the rack and lifted from it a blue jean jacket with a butterfly on the back. "But this is a girl's coat!"

She grinned. "Yes, I know. It's a bit nippy out there, isn't it?"

"Aren't you coming?" asked William.

"No, she's not," Raven answered for her.

"…Why not?" questioned Jordan.

"Because if Sirius happens to show up, you'll have a field day, won't you?"

Smirking, Jordan crossed her arms over her chest. "That's exactly why I want to come."

"And exactly why you're staying here."

"No, I'm coming!" protested Jordan.

"Do as you're told," said Raven with a grin as she pushed open the front door and went down the steps.

"But…"

William gave her a wink and then reiterated sarcastically, "Why can't you just do as you're told?"

She smiled.

"Be right back, love," said William, and he followed after Raven.

Rio encircled William as he entered, wearing Jordan's coat over his bare chest and boxers.

"What, you couldn't find a pair of Jordi's flip-flops you liked?"

William chuckled as he scratched Rio enthusiastically. "Hey buddy, how are ya? I missed you."

Raven smiled as she watched them. William looked up to her, shrugging. "I always wanted a big dog like this."

"You tell me that every time you see him. If I ever mysteriously disappear, he's yours. I'll even let you feed him." Raven nodded toward the bag of dog food next to the back door.

He grinned at her and made his way enthusiastically to fill Rio's dog dish with food. Rio followed at his heels and gave what sounded like a bark of happiness when he received his meal. As William patted Rio's neck fondly and then straightened up again, Raven noticed that he was looking past her. If Rio hadn't been busy enjoying his food, he would have given Sirius a proper greeting. Raven turned and, with a gasp, locked eyes with Sirius, who was standing in the doorway. He rose an eyebrow questioningly at her, but before she could say anything, he'd let the screen door slam, leapt and cleared the porch steps, and continued back into his own house next door.

Raven glanced back at William who was wearing a look of guilt. "Nice to meet you, too, Sirius."

"Oops…" was all Raven could say.

"Sorry, Rave. It's my fault. You want me to go over and explain?" William offered.

She shook her head emphatically. "I think you've done enough, Will, if you know what I mean."

He shrugged. "Well I am partially in drag, you know," he said, straightening Jordan's jacket around him. "That's gotta count for something."

Raven giggled. "I'll be sure to point that out to him. Show yourself out, will you?"

Will nodded. "See you later."

"Let's hope you're fully dressed next time."

When Raven entered Sirius's living room, she found him staring moodily at the ceiling. She sat facing him, waiting for him to speak. When he didn't after several minutes, she placed her hand on his far cheek and turned his head to look at her.

"Hi."

Sirius pretended he had just noticed she was there, giving her a look of complete surprise. "Oh, hi there, Raven, didn't see you. Been here long?"

Raven smiled slowly. "Sirius…that was Will."

"Yeah…and?" He rose an eyebrow at her again.

"And he was—"

"Half-naked," Sirius cut in.

"Except for Jordi's jean jacket, yes," agreed Raven, sounding calm.

"Jordi's…"

"Jean jacket, mmhmm. With a pretty, rainbowy butterfly on the back."

"Oh," said Sirius, his eyes dropping to the floor.

"He's Jordi's boyfriend. He had just gotten up and insisted on coming over to see Rio before he left. Dog lover. You would have liked him."

Sirius glanced timidly up at her, looking extremely ashamed of himself. "Bugger."

She smirked. "Of course, I did have a thing with him before he dated Jordi."

"What!" Sirius demanded, quickly.

"I'm kidding!" giggled Raven. "Honestly, he's like a brother to me."

"_A thing_, huh?" asked Sirius. Raven shrugged. "Are we a _thing_ then?"

She smiled at him. "Well, apparently _you_ think so. Already jealous about an innocent little thing like finding a reasonably attractive man standing half-naked in my living room?"

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Reasonably attractive?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Yes, reasonably attractive. I think Albus Dumbledore is reasonably attractive, too. Does that make you feel better?"

"Not in the least. I think Dumbledore's as handsome as they come." He gave her a roguish grin.

"As are you, Mr. Black."

His impish grin turned into an evocative one. "You never answered my question, Ms. Ashe."

"What question, Sirius?"

"Are…we…a _thing_?" he asked again.

"You tell me."

"Well…" Sirius considered. "I suppose one could say it was only a kiss."

"I recall two."

"All right, two kisses—"

"And that could be termed pure coincidence," Raven pointed out. "They were pretty good, though…"

"_Pretty_ good?" challenged Sirius. "I may have spent the last twelve years of my life in prison, _Ms. Ashe_, but I _do_ think I can manage more than _pretty good_."

Raven giggled at his defensiveness. "Sirius, you need to lighten up, okay? I was teasing. Trust me, the kissing was more than pretty good, it was…" she bit her lip, "sexy as hell."

The ghost of a grin played around his mouth, but then he looked up at her and rose his right eyebrow. "But you _said_…"

"Sexy…as hell," she repeated.

Sirius seemed satisfied with this judgment. "Well, I suppose you _are_ right. Once is an accident; twice is a coincidence; and three times is…"

"…A thing?" supplied Raven, biting her lip again and not meeting his eyes.

"A thing," Sirius repeated as they both looked slowly up at each other. Both faces broke into a grin before they kissed ardently for the third time.

Remus stepped out of the fireplace and turned immediately red in the face as Sirius and Raven looked up at him in a tangle on Sirius's sofa. Sirius was soon giving Remus a look of death while Raven was smirking at him upside down.

"Hello, Remus," she said pleasantly.

Sirius looked down at her again and said before Remus had time to respond. "How did you know that was Remus?"

"You have more than one best friend who's a lycan?" Raven asked.

"Well, no." he answered. "You can tell he's a werewolf somehow?"

"Yes, I can," she said. "Sirius, can you get off me? If he gets any redder, he's bound to explode.

"Oh, right." Sirius obliged and turned to Remus to make introductions. "Moony, Raven Ashe. Raven, Remus Lupin."

"It's nice to meet you, Remus," said Raven, getting up from the couch and shaking his hand and giving him a warm smile.

Remus shook hers with a puzzled expression on his face. "You're a—"

"Vampire, yes," Raven supplied.

"I've never met one before," he justified.

She smirked again. "How fortunate for you."

"So…" Sirius was still trying to work this out, "you guys can, like, tell?"

"It's more that we can sense a difference," explained Raven, "from our own kind as well as from humans. It can be blocked, of course, but as neither of us were expecting to meet the other…"

"What can be blocked?"

"Well, if I didn't want Remus to know that I was a vampire, I could consciously prevent him from sensing it. But it would get harder and harder to do the longer I was with him. At least for me, it would. Older vampires are more powerful."

"I thought you were twenty-five," said Sirius.

"Well, yes, but vampires live forever. There are some that are centuries old – ancient vampires. To them, I'm only an infant. The older vampires are, the more powerful they become."

Sirius looked to Remus. "Is it the same with werewolves?"

"No," said Remus. "With werewolves, it depends on the wolf. Some wolves are more submissive with others are alphas, leaders. The most powerful werewolves are going to be the alphas, but they're also more in danger of being attacked by other alphas looking to take over."

"So Greyback'll be dead any day now?" asked Sirius, hopefully.

"No one would dare attack him; he bit most of them when they were children. They know he's the most powerful."

Raven was now standing at Sirius's front door. "Well, I'll let you gentleman talk. It was nice to finally meet you, Remus. If you want to say and eat dinner, I'm making Sirius something anyway, so feel free."

"Sure, thanks," said Remus.

Sirius watched her go and then turned to grin at Remus. "She cooks for me."

"I see that."

He continued, a dreamy sound in his voice, "Her burritos are straight from heaven."

Remus laughed. "Have you asked her to marry you yet?" he asked, jokingly.

Sirius grinned. "Any day now."

Remus then cleared his throat and glanced at his friend disparagingly. "I take it she knows everything then?"

"You mean that I'm wanted dead or alive? Yes," said Sirius, "and she believes me."

Remus nodded. "I just wanted to check on you. Though you might be getting lonely, but by the look of things when I got here…"

"Hah…yeah…" remembered Sirius, grinning slowly. "I thought it was just that I haven't really seen a woman in over twelve years at first, but it's not. I would have dated her before Azkaban when I was twenty."

"Yeah, you also would have broken her heart when you were twenty and she would hate you now."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Okay, well, if you want to get technical here, she would have been thirteen then and I wouldn't have gone there. I was just saying hypothetically, you know?"

Remus didn't say anything.

"I know you think it's just because I've been deprived from contact with the opposite sex for the past twelve years that I'm rushing into this relationship with Raven, but it's not and _I'm_ not. I really like her and I don't plan on breaking her heart, all right, Moony?"

Remus smirked. "I didn't even say anything, Padfoot."

"Yeah, well I've known you since we were eleven and I know what you think, so just…don't think it. Can you do that?"

He shrugged. "All right."

"Good," said Sirius, smiling. "So, how's everything in the real world?"

"Wait, can I just ask one thing about this?"

Sirius sighed. "Go ahead."

"Where exactly do you see this going?"

Sirius was silent for a minute, so Remus went on.

"What happens if Harry needs you in the future? I mean, haven't you noticed that that boy gets into more trouble than you and James put together and he doesn't even go looking for it."

Sirius grinned widely at this. "I have noticed how much like James he is, Moony. If Harry needs me, I'm going to be there for him. I'm at least going to try and make up for not being there the past twelve years."

"I know you will. But what about Raven? She's just going to wait here for you? That's what I'm asking. How serious is this going to be? What exactly is it?"

Sirius smirked and leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees. "It's a thing."

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_A/N: And now a bit of shameless self-promotion: If you're a Sirius fan, don't forget to take a gander at Padfoot Prohibited and its sequel, Black Blood. The Raven and Jordan in those fanfics are **in no way** connected to the ones in this one to remind everyone again. Reviews are appreciated. Thanks, and again, my apologies for keeping you waiting so very long._

_Luv, Liveley._


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